The
Madras High Court directed the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) to
issue advertisements in all leading newspapers in the country stating that the
court had banned homework for Class I and II students and that stringent action
would be taken against affiliated schools if complaints were received with
regard to violation of the court order.

·The
court issued the directive after observing that the CBSE’s circular about the
ban imposed by the court on May 29, may not serve any purpose unless the
general public and NGOs were made aware of the court order and encouraged to
lodge complaints.

·The
court said the advertisement should also publicise the court order that no subject
other than mathematics and language should be taught in Classes I and II and
that students of Classes III to V could be taught environmental science as an
additional subject.

·Schools
that do not comply with the order will lose their affiliation.

Background:

Acting
on a case filed by advocate M. Purushothaman, Madras High Court had on May 29,2018
ordered that none of the schools in the country, irrespective of the board to
which they were affiliated, could prescribe homework for Classes I and II and
teach more subjects than what had been recommended by NCERT.

Key
Words:
Homework, Children, School education, NCERT

BIMSTEC-FTA

Why
in News?

Bay
of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC)
suffers from a “lack of visibility” in the region, said the envoys of the seven
member grouping and called for the speedy conclusion of a Free Trade Agreement
within the group.

·Initially
FTA which was negotiated in 2004.

·BIMSTEC
FTA will boost intra-regional trade from its present level of 7% to 21%.

The
envoys also spoke about the need for the upcoming summit to promote security
issues including “terrorism and violent extremism” in the region.

Key Words: BIMSTEC-FTA, Regional trade

MPLADS

Why
in News?

Rajya
Sabha Chairman and Lok Sabha Speaker urged Members of Parliament to generously
contribute from their MPLADS funds for relief and rehabilitation works in flood
affected Kerala.

The
Guidelines of Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme has provision
that in the event of ‘Calamity of severe nature’ in any part of the country, an
MP can recommend works up to a maximum of Rs. 1 cr. for the affected district.

·The
guidelines further say that from the day an MP makes such contribution, concerned
authorities have to identify relief works in one month time and the same should
be implemented within eight months.

Key Words: MPLADS, Natural disaster

Taliban rejects Ghani’s truce offer

Why in News?

The Taliban rejected an Afghan government
offer of a ceasefire and it would persist with their attacks, while insurgents
ambushed three buses and kidnapped nearly 200 passengers travelling for a
holiday.

The Taliban commanders said their supreme
leader rejected President Ashraf Ghani’s Sunday offer of a three-month
ceasefire, beginning with this week’s Id al-Adha Muslim holiday.

In June, the Taliban observed a government
ceasefire over the three-day Id ul-Fitr festival, leading to unprecedented
scenes of government soldiers and militants embracing on front lines, and
raising hopes for talks.

But the Taliban said the June ceasefire had
only helped U.S. forces, who the Taliban are trying to drive out of the
country.

Taliban leader Sheikh Haibatullah Akhunzada
rejected the new offer on the grounds it would only help the U.S.-led mission.

An official in Mr. Ghani's office said the
three-month-long ceasefire declared by the government was conditional, and if
the Taliban did not respect it, the government would maintain military
operation.

Keywords – Afghanistan, Taliban, ceasefire.

Russia invites Taliban to Sept. talks

Why in News?

Russia said it was preparing international
peace talks on Afghanistan on September 4 and has invited the Taliban.

The talks were “in the framework of
launching a process of national reconciliation in Afghanistan”.

In April 2017, Moscow hosted an
international conference on Afghanistan with representatives from Afghanistan,
India, Iran, China, Pakistan, and five former Soviet republics in Central Asia.

Keywords – Russia, Afghanistan, Taliban,
peace talks.

Greece and the Eurozone bailout

Why in News?

Greece emerged from the biggest bailout in
economic history after nine years of creditor-mandated austerity, with European
institutions hailing the exit a success.

The milestone weans the debt-burdened
eurozone member off financial lifelines offered on three occasions by creditors
over the best part of a decade, and the country will now need to support
itself.

Athens will rely on bond markets to
refinance its debt, officially leaving behind a crisis that shrank its economy
by a quarter and pushed many into poverty.

Since early 2010, Greece has relied on more
than €260 billion ($300 billion) lent by its eurozone partners and the
International Monetary Fund.

Keywords – Greece, Eurozone, bailout.

Govt., judiciary too responsible for NPAs’

Why in News?

State Bank of India Chairman Rajnish Kumar
has held everyone including the government and the judiciary responsible in
their own way for the sharp rise in non-performing assets (NPAs) in recent
years.

·He cited the
retrospective cancellation of coal mine allocations as an example and asked how
an industrialist who had taken an investment decision could have foreseen such
an event.

·According to ratings
agency Crisil, gross NPAs rose to about ₹10.3 lakh crore, or 11.2% of
advances, as of March 2018, compared with ₹8 lakh crore, or 9.5% of
advances, in the year-earlier period.

·According to Mr. Kumar,
a major factor for the surge in NPAs had been consortium lending, which often
led to inordinate delays in loan appraisal.

·Multiple banking, the
successor to consortium banking, too had not helped speed up decision-making
but had only led to more NPAs, he opined.

·It would be crucial in
future to ensure that the promised equity was very much available in the
business while evaluating a financing proposal.

Keywords – NPAs, SBI Chairman, Rajnish
Kumar.

Credit registry and RBI Act

Why in News?

The Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934, may
need to be amended to facilitate the setting of a public credit registry (PCR),
RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya said.

The PCR is planned as an extensive database
of credit information for all credit products in the country from point of
origination of credit to its termination.

Its main benefit would be to provide
lenders with a 360 degree view of the borrower’s outstanding credits and past
performance. This would allow better screening at the time of providing credit
and superior monitoring during the life of the borrowing.

Legal issues around setting up the PCR-

While the PCR is initially being set up
within the existing RBI infrastructure, the fact that the RBI as a statutory
corporation can only engage in those activities that are permitted by the RBI
Act, or other relevant legislation, creates complications.

In addition to its core central banking
functions, RBI also performs certain promotional functions which is only
limited to ‘financial institutions’.

Since no financing activity is contemplated
for the proposed PCR, it might be difficult to label PCR as a ‘financial
institution’.

This takes it out of the purview of a
promotion under the Reserve Bank of India Act, 1934.

Other options

Another option, would be to promote an
organisation for a matter incidental to the functions of RBI — as part of the
RBI Act or Banking Regulation Act, 1949.

Collection of information, including credit
information, from regulated entities is an important aspect of the RBI’s
regulatory and supervisory functions and hence such an activity could be done
by setting up a subsidiary or a department.

Otherwise, the Reserve Bank of India Act,
1934, can be suitably amended conferring the Reserve Bank powers to conduct the
business of PCR.

In October 2017, RBI had set up a
high-level task force (HTF) chaired by Y.M. Deosthalee to review the
availability of information on credit and assess the gaps.

The HTF submitted its report on April 4,
2018, recommending that a PCR should be set up by the RBI in a phased and
modular manner.

With such an infrastructure in place “we
expect the costs for onboarding those users who are currently excluded by
formal credit to nosedive.”

Keywords – Public Credit Registry, RBI Act,
1934.

Southern States outshine rest of India in mobile banking’

Why in News?

Southern States are outshining the rest of
India in mobile banking adoption in savings accounts, according to a report by
The Boston Consulting Group (BCG).

The report was prepared in association with
FICCI and Indian Banks’ Association.

Telangana tops the table with 10% of
savings bank accounts having at least one mobile banking transaction in the
last six months of FY18, according to the report.

This is followed by Andhra Pradesh (6.30%),
Karnataka (5.50%), Puducherry (5.80%), Tamil Nadu (5%) and Kerala (4.70%). The
all-India average is 3.40%.

Mobile banking activation stood at 21% for
private banks and 3% for PSU banks for FY18, the consulting firm said in the
report.

BCG also said that eastern and southern
States were leading the charge as India continued on the digital journey.

More than 20% of the active savings banks
accounts in Telangana, Manipur and Mizoram had at least one Internet banking
financial transaction in the last six months of FY18 compared with the national
average of 11.30%.

Other southern States too topped the
national average on the metric.

The theme of the report is “Providing
financial services to SMEs in an increasingly digital ecosystem.”

Keywords – Mobile banking, digital India,
BCG report.

TELANGANA

ROOF TOP SOLAR POWER

Telangana
State Renewable Energy Development Corporation (TSREDCO) plans to add 45 MW of
roof-top solar energy capacity this year (2018-19) by encouraging individuals
and institutions to set up photo voltaic (PV) solar panels to meet their energy
needs as well as to supply excess generation to the grid.

·The
State has about 60 MW of on-grid and off-grid roof-top photo-voltaic solar
energy capacity including 7 MW capacity adding during the last year (2017-18).

·Of
the planned capacity for the current year, the Ministry of New and Renewable
Energy has already cleared the proposals for 13 MW and also released funds for
the subsidy component. The Centre offers 30% subsidy for the roof-top solar
systems.

A
memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Telangana State Road Transport
Corporation (TSRTC) with the nodal agency, TSREDCO, for establishing 5 MW solar
PV energy capacity.

·The
public transport institution has plans to set up roof-top solar energy systems
on its installations in Hyderabad and elsewhere in the State.

Several
urban local bodies (ULBs) were also coming forward to set up roof-top solar
energy systems in the on-grid method.

·Besides,
72 ULBs and gram panchayats had also come forward to go for solar PV energy LED
street lighting systems.

As
part of TSREDCO’s efforts to conserve energy, about 25 lakh LED bulbs had been
distributed to households across the State and they had plans for distribution
of another 40 lakh in the coming months

Key Words: Solar Power, Telangana, Roof top solar power

ANDHRA PRADESH

Wolbachia to control dengue

Why in News?

The State government has launched an
experimental project to control the spread of dengue fever through genetically
modified mosquitoes.

·It launched the project
in Paderu in Visakhapatnam, where the vector-borne diseases, including dengue,
are being reported every year.

·As part of the 18-month
project, researchers will infect Aedes aegypti mosquito with Wolbachia, a
bacteria. The mosquitoes will be released into the wild where they breed with
local mosquitoes and pass the bacteria to their offspring.

·The Wolbachia controls
the multiplication of the virus in its host — Aedes aegypti, which is primarily
responsible for the cause of dengue fevers.

·It is necessary to
infect the Aedes aegypti mosquitoes in a laboratory with bacteria of the genus
Wolbachia, which naturally infect many insects but not mosquitoes that cause
dengue. The bacteria can inhibit the growth of other microbes in its hosts.

·The department plans to
release a batch of 50,000 mosquitoes by September 20 into the wild.

·According to
information, the bacteria is passed onto the offsprings if the infected Aedes
aegypti mates with the non-infected/infected mosquito.

·The viruses like dengue
can’t replicate when mosquitoes are infected with the bacterium. The mosquitoes
with Wolbachia have a reduced ability to transmit viruses and help in
decreasing the risk of dengue outbreaks.

·The dengue is one of
the notified diseases in the country. The government has been relying on
methods like killing off adult mosquitoes by aerial spraying to combat dengue.

·Over years, it has been
a consistent practice to release Gambusia fish in stagnant waters and water
bodies, fogging to kill adult the mosquitoes.

Keywords- Wolbachia bacteria, dengue,
Andhra Pradesh

Industrial Tourism

Why in
News?

Moving beyond scenic beauty, the Tourism
Department in the state is now exploring tourism potential in the industrial
sector.

·Sri City, the
integrated business city (township) in Chittoor and Nellore districts and the
Satish Dhawan Space Centre at Sriharikota in Nellore are some of the places
they have figured out to cater to their new plans of industrial tourism.

·The objective behind
exploring this sector is also to kindle interest in students and young
entrepreneurs and help them enhance their awareness levels on industrial
progress.

·These visits could be
of immense use for the youth as they showcased expertise from the past, present
and future.

·Main industries across
the State such as the Visakhapatnam steel plant, Visakhapatnam port trust,
Vijayawada thermal power station, Rajahmundry paper mill and a few other units
would be brought under Industrial Tourism.

·Initially, the Tourism
Department intends to implement the programme but once streamlined, it would
hand it over to adequately trained tour operators.

Keywords – Tourism, industrial tourism,
Andhra Pradesh.

MCQs

1.
Which of the following statements are True with regard to MPLADS

a.
An MP can recommend for works in any state in the event of any Natural
Disaster.

b.
Only Lok Sabha MPs are allowed to do so.

A.
a only

B.
b only

C.
Both a and b

D.
Neither a nor b

Explanation:

Under
Members of Parliament Local Area Development Scheme in the event of ‘Calamity
of severe nature’ in any part of the country, an MP can recommend works up
to a maximum of Rs. 1 cr. for the affected district.

The
guidelines further say that from the day an MP makes such contribution,
concerned authorities have to identify relief works in one month time and the
same should be implemented within eight months.

2.
Which of the following statements are True with regard to BIMSTEC

a.
There is no permanent Secretariat.

b.
It comprises of countries from South Asia only

A.
a only

B.
b only

C.
Both a and b

D.
Neither a nor b

Explanation:

The
Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation
(BIMSTEC) is an international organisation of seven nations of South Asia and
South East Asia, housing 1.5 billion people and having a combined gross
domestic product of $2.5 trillion

The
BIMSTEC member states—Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Bhutan,
and Nepal—are among the countries dependent on the Bay of Bengal.

Fourteen
priority sectors of cooperation have been identified and several BIMSTEC
centres have been established to focus on those sectors.

Leadership
is rotated in alphabetical order of country names. The permanent secretariat is
in Dhaka.

Which
of the following country is not part of Quadrilateral Coordination Group?

A)China

B)USA

C)Pakistan

D)India

Explanation - The QCG comprises Pakistan, Afghanistan,
China, and the United States. It was set up in January 2016 to find a political
solution to the Afghan conflict.